Shochiku Robins
| Shochiku Robins | |
|---|---|
| League |
Nippon Professional Baseball * Central League |
| Ballpark | Shimonoseki Baseball Stadium (1950–1952) |
| Year established | 1936 |
| Division championships | 1 (1950) |
| Former name(s) | Dai Tokyo (1936) Lion Baseball Club (1937–1940) Asahi Baseball Club (1941–1944) Pacific Baseball Club (1946) Taiyō Robins (1947–1949) |
| Former league(s) | Japanese Baseball League (1936–1949) |
| Former ballparks | Kinugasa Stadium |
| Colors | dark olive green, red |
| Ownership |
Kokumin Shimbun (1936) Komajiro Tamura (1937–1949) Shochiku (1950–1952) |
| Manager |
Tokuro Konishi (1936–1938, 1950, 1952) Kyouichi Nitta (1951–1953) |
The Shochiku Robins was a Japanese baseball team that played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The franchise originated in the Japanese Baseball League (NPB's predecessor) and existed from 1936–1953, when it merged with another team. Originally based in Tokyo, the club moved to Osaka in 1941.
The club was founded as Dai Tokyo before the 1936 Japanese Baseball League season. They made history by signing an African-American player, James E. Bonner (known in Japan as "Jimmy Bonna"), 11 years before Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color barrier.
The worst team in the league its first year, the club improved in spring 1937.
On August 31, midway through the 1937 fall season, the team changed its name to the Lion Baseball Club when it was acquired by Komajiro Tamura, with sponsorship by Lion Toothpaste.
Late in the 1940 season, the Japan Baseball League outlawed English nicknames (due to rising tensions with the West). Owner Tamura refused to change the team's name, insisting that "Lion" is Japanese (In actuality, he wanted to honor the team's sponsorship contract with Lion Toothpaste.) The team completed the season as Lion, finishing in last place, 50 games behind Tokyo Kyojin.
In 1941 the team moved from Tokyo to Osaka and acquiring new sponsorship from Asahi Shimbun; from 1941–1944 it was called the Asahi Baseball Club, and in 1943 had its first winning season, finishing at 41-36-7.
After the resumption of the Japanese Baseball League in 1946 (after World War II), the team changed its name to Pacific Baseball Club (popularly known as Taihei — "peace"). Meanwhile, team owner Komajiro Tamura started another franchise that season, Gold Star, which signed many of Asahi's former players, as well as Asahi's former manager Michinori Tubouchi.
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